Best Free IP APIs in 2026: ipinfo.im vs ipinfo.io vs ip-api.com

Third-party comparison notice: This article mentions ipinfo.io (IPinfo®) and ip-api.com for educational comparison purposes only. IPInfo Wiki is not affiliated with those services. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Choosing the right IP geolocation API can save you hours of integration work — or cost you when you hit unexpected limits. In 2026, three APIs dominate the free tier landscape: ipinfo.im, ipinfo.io, and ip-api.com. This guide compares them honestly so you can pick the right one.

TL;DR Comparison Table

Feature	ipinfo.im	ipinfo.io	ip-api.com
Free tier	Unlimited (fair use)	50,000 req/month	45 req/minute
API key required	No	Yes	No
Registration required	No	Yes	No
HTTPS on free tier	Yes	Yes	No (paid only)
CORS support	Yes	Yes (with key)	Yes
IPv6 support	Yes	Yes	Yes
Response format	JSON	JSON	JSON/XML/CSV
Country	Yes	Yes	Yes
City	Yes	Yes	Yes
ISP/Org	Yes	Yes	Yes
ASN	Yes	Yes	Yes
Timezone	Yes	Yes	Yes
Coordinates	Yes	Yes	Yes
VPN/Proxy detection	No (free)	No (paid)	No (paid)
Batch endpoint	No	Yes (paid)	No
Response time	Very fast	Fast	Fast
Data accuracy	Good	Excellent	Good

ipinfo.im — Best for Developers Who Need Zero Friction

ipinfo.im is the clear winner if you want to get started immediately without any account setup.

API endpoint:

curl "https://ipinfo.im/api/?ip=8.8.8.8"

Sample response:

{
  "ip": "8.8.8.8",
  "country": "US",
  "country_name": "United States",
  "region": "California",
  "city": "Mountain View",
  "org": "AS15169 Google LLC",
  "timezone": "America/Los_Angeles",
  "latitude": 37.4056,
  "longitude": -122.0775
}

Pros:

• No registration or API key — just make the request
• HTTPS included at no cost
• CORS-enabled for browser use
• Includes latitude/longitude
• Also offers DNS lookup, WHOIS, ping, and other network tools at the same domain

Cons:

• No dedicated batch endpoint
• No VPN/proxy detection on the free tier
• Fair-use policy (no hard rate limit published, but avoid abusive bulk usage)

Best for: Prototyping, personal projects, internal tools, developers who value simplicity over feature depth.

ipinfo.io — Best for Production Applications Needing Premium Data

ipinfo.io is a well-established commercial IP data provider with a generous free tier.

API endpoint:

curl "https://ipinfo.io/8.8.8.8?token=YOUR_TOKEN"

Sample response:

{
  "ip": "8.8.8.8",
  "hostname": "dns.google",
  "city": "Mountain View",
  "region": "California",
  "country": "US",
  "loc": "37.4056,-122.0775",
  "org": "AS15169 Google LLC",
  "postal": "94043",
  "timezone": "America/Los_Angeles"
}

Pros:

• Extremely accurate data, industry-leading geolocation database
• Includes postal code and hostname resolution
• Batch lookup endpoint (paid)
• Company, privacy, and abuse detection data (paid tiers)
• Excellent documentation and client libraries

Cons:

• Requires registration and API token even for free tier
• 50,000 requests/month limit on free tier
• HTTPS requires token
• Costs money at scale ($149+/month for 150k requests)

Best for: Production apps where data accuracy is critical and you’re willing to manage API keys and quotas.

ip-api.com — Best for Quick Lookups Without a Key

ip-api.com is another no-registration option with a simple API.

API endpoint:

curl "http://ip-api.com/json/8.8.8.8"

Sample response:

{
  "status": "success",
  "country": "United States",
  "countryCode": "US",
  "region": "CA",
  "regionName": "California",
  "city": "Mountain View",
  "zip": "94043",
  "lat": 37.4056,
  "lon": -122.0775,
  "timezone": "America/Los_Angeles",
  "isp": "Google LLC",
  "org": "Google LLC",
  "as": "AS15169 Google LLC",
  "query": "8.8.8.8"
}

Pros:

• No API key needed
• Returns postal code on free tier
• Supports JSON, XML, and CSV response formats
• Batch endpoint (up to 100 IPs per request)

Cons:

• No HTTPS on the free tier — responses are served over plain HTTP
• 45 requests/minute rate limit (fairly restrictive)
• HTTPS requires a paid Pro plan ($15+/month)
• Not suitable for browser use due to mixed-content HTTPS issues

Best for: Quick server-side lookups where you don’t mind HTTP, or if you specifically need batch lookups for free.

Detailed Feature Breakdown

Authentication and Friction

API	What you need to start
ipinfo.im	Nothing. Call the URL.
ip-api.com	Nothing. Call the URL.
ipinfo.io	Create account, generate token, pass token in every request.

For a quick prototype or a hackathon project, having to create an account and generate a token is a real productivity cost. ipinfo.im and ip-api.com win on zero-friction.

Rate Limits and Scale

API	Free limit	Reset period
ipinfo.im	~Fair use (generous)	N/A
ipinfo.io	50,000 requests	Monthly
ip-api.com	45 requests	Per minute

For low-volume personal projects, all three are fine. For apps with real traffic:

• ip-api.com’s 45/minute limit is only 2,700/hour — you’ll hit it quickly
• ipinfo.io’s 50,000/month = ~1,667/day or ~70/hour — also somewhat restrictive
• ipinfo.im doesn’t publish hard limits, making it practical for moderate-traffic projects

HTTPS Security

This is important for any production deployment. ip-api.com only offers HTTPS on paid plans, which means you’re sending data over unencrypted HTTP on the free tier. For any serious use, this is a dealbreaker.

Both ipinfo.im and ipinfo.io provide HTTPS on their free tiers.

Data Fields Comparison

# ipinfo.im response fields (free)
ip, country, country_name, region, city, org, timezone, latitude, longitude

# ipinfo.io response fields (free, with token)
ip, hostname, city, region, country, loc, org, postal, timezone

# ip-api.com response fields (free)
status, country, countryCode, region, regionName, city, zip,
lat, lon, timezone, isp, org, as, query

Notable differences:

• ipinfo.im returns country_name (full name) and separate latitude/longitude
• ipinfo.io returns hostname (reverse DNS) and postal code
• ip-api.com returns zip (postal), and separates isp from org

Browser/Client-Side Use

Only ipinfo.im and ipinfo.io support CORS (Cross-Origin Resource Sharing) on their free tiers, making them suitable for direct browser JavaScript calls. ip-api.com’s HTTP-only free tier also blocks browser use due to mixed-content security rules on HTTPS pages.

// Works in browser with ipinfo.im — no API key, no CORS issues
const resp = await fetch('https://ipinfo.im/api/?ip=8.8.8.8');
const data = await resp.json();
console.log(data.country); // "US"

Which Should You Choose?

Choose ipinfo.im if:

• You want to start coding immediately without signing up for anything
• You’re building a prototype, personal project, or internal tool
• You need browser-side IP lookup without a backend
• You want HTTPS without paying
• You appreciate having DNS, WHOIS, and other network tools in one place

Choose ipinfo.io if:

• Data accuracy is critical for your business
• You need postal codes, hostname resolution, or abuse detection
• You’re building a production app and don’t mind managing an API key
• You plan to scale up to a paid plan eventually

Choose ip-api.com if:

• You need free batch lookups (up to 100 IPs per request)
• You’re building a server-side only tool and don’t need HTTPS
• You need CSV or XML format in addition to JSON

Code Comparison: Same Task, All Three APIs

Here’s the same IP lookup in Python across all three APIs:

import requests

ip = "8.8.8.8"

# ipinfo.im — no key needed
r1 = requests.get(f"https://ipinfo.im/api/?ip={ip}").json()
print(f"ipinfo.im:  {r1['country']} | {r1['city']} | {r1['org']}")

# ipinfo.io — requires token
TOKEN = "your_token_here"
r2 = requests.get(f"https://ipinfo.io/{ip}?token={TOKEN}").json()
print(f"ipinfo.io:  {r2['country']} | {r2['city']} | {r2['org']}")

# ip-api.com — no key, HTTP only
r3 = requests.get(f"http://ip-api.com/json/{ip}").json()
print(f"ip-api.com: {r3['countryCode']} | {r3['city']} | {r3['isp']}")

Output (all three agree on the basics):

ipinfo.im:  US | Mountain View | AS15169 Google LLC
ipinfo.io:  US | Mountain View | AS15169 Google LLC
ip-api.com: US | Mountain View | Google LLC

Conclusion

For most developers in 2026, ipinfo.im is the best starting point. It’s the only IP API that is:

• Completely free with no registration
• Served over HTTPS
• CORS-enabled for browser use
• Fast and reliable

If you outgrow it or need premium features like VPN detection, postal codes, or company data, upgrade to ipinfo.io — but you’ll need a paid plan for serious traffic.

ip-api.com fills a niche: free batch lookups without a key, but the HTTP-only restriction makes it unsuitable for browser-side or HTTPS-required deployments.

Start exploring IP APIs for free right now at ipinfo.im — no signup required.